Presently, the digital media entertainment industry is buoyed by an ongoing fierce competition among the premier globally dispersed media distribution concerns. This competition is a result of the need to gain a competitive edge while at the same time establishing a viable, secure and profitable business model to serve an ever entertainment-hungry public. Many corporations sought to be ahead of the curve through the establishment of fiber-based broadband networks across the spectrum. Today, approximately 80% of households receive their content from cable or satellite providers. Entertainment is rapidly moving toward non-fixed-schedule on-demand, such as, but not limited to, cable, satellite, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and time-shift viewing such as but not limited to personal video recorders or new age devices. The average in-home entertainment platform is evolving into a high quality media center punctuated with cable or fiber optic services (FIOS) legacy or modern Internet Protocol (IP) set top boxes or personal computers optimized for high quality media content playback serving as the central media server. The result of these improvements in the distribution architecture is the widespread availability of broadband connectivity, and as expected an increased consumer need for high quality and readily available high-quality content. There is a need to improve the quality and consistency of distribution in alignment with the advances in media distribution technologies. These advances enabled emerging distribution houses to take advantage of the proliferation of the Internet and advances in media compression to provide better service quality at lower costs.
With the advent of these advance compression technologies, there remains however some stubborn challenges to the protection of the distribution infrastructure. The protection of media from piracy therefore, still remains one of the biggest “headaches” to the media distribution industry. The entertainment market is therefore “primed” for a distribution platform that offers the best advantages to the industries of impact namely; consumer electronics, service providers, content owners and information technology. Home entertainment has also seen extensive enhancements through the creative advances of the electronic industry. Leading companies from the consumer electronics, service providers, content owners and information technology industries are most impacted by this emerging revolution that is primed to deliver enhanced entertainment options to the consumer experience. The entertainment industry has adjusted to these advances through the availability of content formatted for better quality and improved viewing capabilities. The standard media formatted for high-definition, high quality distribution becomes available at a much faster “clip” than previously imagined. Video-on-demand is common on all major distribution platforms as a subscribed option and is formatted to be delivered to high definition television (HDTV), personal computers and standard television endpoints.
Distribution of the aforementioned are consequently facilitated either through the cable or digital satellite distributions network(s), the Internet or through the movie rental houses option.
The adoption of new compression technologies and new modes of distribution is still however in its infancy stage and as a result, some reference areas for distribution are still being affected. For instance, the movie industry strives to be a valid in-home network player but for the absence of clear secure digital rights management standards and innovations. Competition among the video rental houses is also at its peak currently because of the need for a more profitable and secure distribution model of reference.
While the content provider and service provider industries have benefited immensely from this boom in demand, there still lies an opportunity for an alternatively more secure, advanced storage and cost effective media distribution method. The solution envisaged is driven by the vast advances in media compression technologies, enhanced digital rights management security technologies and the need for flexible programming in choosing video entertainment.
Content owners and service providers have long established a sincere demand for a robustly secure distribution platform to protect their assets. Content owners whose assets include games, movies and other forms of digital entertainment are exposed to great losses while reluctantly choosing service providers on an insecure platform at the highest risks to make content available online. Industry experts have estimated losses in revenue due to piracy to be $6 Billion USD yearly. There is a need for providing end-to-end secured home entertainment products and services. In complete cognizance of these challenges, there is a need for a secure, high quality distribution of high definition, enhanced media assets to portable viewing devices.